MIDTERM STUDY GROUP

Hey guys... we've got a little test coming up. It would be great if we studied together before the test... so I'm proposing this.

Everyone take a look at the study guide this weekend, and start thinking about the questions and examples from the texts.

We can get together at Panera on High Street on Sunday...say, around 3-ish (I almost forgot about the Super Bowl)?

If this time doesn't work for anyone we can move it around, but I thought it would be best to establish a starting point. Just comment on this post if you plan on coming/can't come at 3 but still want to play along.

Good luck studying!

Naturalismo

La visión del mundo que tiene los cuentos de Bazán no es optimista. No comparte en absoluto la teoría de que el hombre sea bueno por naturaleza…no cree en paraísos perdidos ni en edades de inocencia. Los cuentos son de estudioso de natural, reconoce la importancia del entorno y la fisiología para modelar la conducta de los personajes. En su trama de sus relatos esa fuerza, en ocasiones, consigue abrir una vía de escape hacia delante, aunque no se dirija a ningún sitio hacia la muerte. Otras veces, el peso de lo impuesto- los prejuicios, el deber moral, la injustica, el machismo, la pura maldad- gana la partida. En cualquier caso, los cuentos nunca se traiciona.
Como buena autora realista, la cercanía de la vida es constante en sus cuentos, a pesar de las apariencias de verosimilitud de sus cuentos, de su crudo realismo, siempre son productos de una elaboración artística, tanto mas lograda cuanto más se acerque a la realidad.

Bazan and Naturalism

As Profa. Haidt mentioned, Bazan's short stories can fit into two categories; ones where social conditions destroy the characters and others that recount an interesting event. However, all of them represent Naturalism. This was apparent as I read Cuentos de la Tierra. Abuse, death, infidelity, murder, greed, etc. are real life experiences. I connected personally with these stories more than the other works we have read. One aspect about Bazan's stories that I found interesting was her incorporation of morals in some, but not in others. For example, the irony in "Reconciliados" is meant to show how it doesn't matter that you won a petty argument once you've passed on. Everyone – both the hero and the villain - will die. That is real life. However, in "El Panuelo" there is no justice. That is also real life. But there appears to be no moral either. What can the reader take away from the story other than simply the inevitability of harsh reality? Relatives die, poverty causes struggles and natural accidents happen. “El Panuelo” is definitely an example of the destruction that social conditions can cause. It’s almost as if Bazan is saying, “I know it’s horribly depressing to read about an orphan dying while trying to make a living, but that’s the way life works.” I think that theme is present throughout all of the stories, but some of them have a moralistic tone. I suppose morals exist in real life too though. All in all, as a Naturalist Emilia Pardo Bazan did an excellent job.

romanticcc

After our discussion about "El Legajo" on wednesday, I find myself intrigued by Lucio's romanticized vision of his ancestors: the wife who no longer loved her husband, the secret lover, the discovery and ensuing dual between husband and lover, and of course, death. This element of Pardo Bazan's story, the inclusion of the protagonists's romantic imagination, is interesting in terms of naturalist writing and the application of the scientific to literature. As we discussed in class, Pardo Bazan was not entirely convinced by Zola's propositions, and I think that by including Lucio's fantasy within her story is a testament to the value she places on the voluntad of the individual. At the same time, by placing a romantic vision within the story itself, Pardo Bazan creates a contrast between the ideas proposed in romantic writing and naturalist writing. When Lucio discovers the true story of his ancestors the naturalist cause is further supported.

Nonetheless, I think it is true that some people are romantics. Being a romantic does not necessarily mean that you believe your ideas to be realistic, but hey, it can be fun to be a romantic (albeit you are more likely to be letdown by reality) just in time for valentine's day!

Cuentos de la Tierra

Mi cuento favorito de la selección que teníamos de cuentos de la tierra fue las Medias Rojas porque en el cuento se relata la historia de una mujer que pudiera ser el caso de muchas mujeres de la época. En las Medias Rojas la protagonista es una muchacha simple la cual tiene el sueño y el deseo de salir adelante. Ella planea irse en un barco al nuevo mundo pero por su desgracia su padre la golpea quitándole su belleza y su única esperanza para salir de su tierra natal. Su padre la golpea porque la quiere mantener con él para que trabaje sus tierras ya que él es muy viejo. El solo piensa en su bienestar sin ver que le destrozaría la vida a su hija ya que ella piensa que solo lo que tiene es su belleza. Esta historia representa la realidad de muchas mujeres de la época porque tiene el aspecto de violencia contra las mujeres por hombres de su familia y también demuestra como los hombres de la familia controlaban el destino de las mujeres de su familia a su antojo sin tomar encuentra sus deseos ni ilusiones.

Cuentos de la tierra

I found through reading the stories in Cuentos de la tierra and the Zola article that it is very interesting how the mix of realism and naturalism can have a unique effect on literature. I like how people like Zola began to use science to get a description of social reality because it makes the stories more realistic. If this happens to this person, in the real world this will happen. A lot of times, as shown through the Cuentos, this situations are brutal and sad. I do not like however that the naturalists do not take human will, spirit, and desire in account. Often times, bad things happen to people but they do not sit around letting it happen without putting up a fight. Like in Medias Rojas, the young girl was trying to protect her face from being beaten out of her will to struggle against the bad. I also think that the formation of psychology is very important to literature. It allowed the authors, such as Bazan, to allow the reader to connect the the character and see their personal struggle against something bad. In the real world, everyone has different emotions or sees situations from a different perspective, and by not having every situation being the same, one is able to see the true reality of the world and what real people have to face. I think it is important to write about the bad whether the person loses or wins against the bad because it raises awareness to problems in the world. Like in Medias Rojas, young girls should not be beaten. Change can arise because the stories were written and change the lives of people who are living in the same situation. I think that Bazan did a great job mixing the realism and naturalism in her stories and has raised awareness to many unfortunate situations that happened many years ago and some that are still relevant in today's world. She allowed the readers see into the lives of different people and the struggles they have to face with out them being cookie cutter images of scientific study.

Tristeza y Avaricia

I had somewhat of an idea of what to expect when we started reading stories by Emilia Pardo Bazan because I, along with most people, read Las Medias Rojas while taking Spanish 450. However, I was quite surprised that not just that story, but most of her stories are very sad, or bring up the worst qualities in people, such as greediness. I now have a better understanding that writing about these topics was what was popular during the eras of Realism and Naturalism. I think it is very interesting that these writers can write about the phenomena inherent in man, like their psychology, personality, and instincts, and that people actually enjoy reading it! My first thought would be that most readers are used to these sorts of actions because they commit them every day, however, after reading more stories by Emilia Pardo Bazan, I realized that I actually like this kind of writing, because it was real and there was nothing fantasy about it. Although stories like Las Medias Rojas y El Pañuelo are very sad, it shows us that things like this really do happen, probably every day, and we shouldn't avoid writing about it because by writing about it, we bring awareness to it. And when it comes to stories like El Legajo and the greed that is discovered at the end, I think that is important too for the same reason that I like realist and naturalist writing, because it is real, and that is how most people are, deep down inside. I'm glad that we purchased a whole book full of stories by Emilia Pardo Bazan because I enjoy them and hope to find the time to read some more of them.